Summary:
The influences of the various empires over the history of Malaysia have both contributed and detracted from Malaysian society as a whole in various direct and indirect ways and it is these outside influences that have shaped Malaysia's current twisted state.
Due to its strategic position, as far as maritime trading and warfare goes, Malaysia has always been an extremely popular country as far as colonization goes. For Malaysia, it was empire after empire competing for the key real estate.
In 1511, it was the Portuguese, followed by the Dutch in 1641 after a fierce battle. In 1795, when the Netherlands was captured during the Napoleonic Wars Malaysia was given to the British to prevent it falling to the French. It was returned to the Dutch in 1818 under the treaty of Vienna but was later exchanged by the British for Bangkahulu, Sumatra. From 1826 until the Second World War, the British reigned over Malaysia and various other countries in the area.
Each new empire brought with it new ideas and new religious influences and so, Malaysia found itself in constant turmoil over drastic religious affiliations from Buddhism, to Christianity and finally; Islam, its current day religion.
The British Reign lasted from 1826-1941 where it was taken over by the Japanese, following the Japanese loss in World War II it was returned to the British until 1946. The reign of the British in Malaysia was one of relative peace and calamity. The intrest of the Brits was largely encouraged through the trade opportunities of the area but the other key motivation was to keep an eye on the French power and their influence in the Indian Ocean.
The population of Malaysia at the time of the occupation skyrocketed. This was partly due to high immigration as British rule opened Malaysia to world markets providing extremely promising employment prospects. The indigenous labor supply was still insufficient however, for the needs of the developing rubber and tin industries, so the British brought large numbers of Indians and Chinese into the country, also adding to the high immigration and altering the countries racial mix.
In a political aspect, the Malays were able to operate a relatively liberal and democratic government run by Malaysians. There was however, a strong British influence in all areas of the countries politics and they used Malaysian representatives as puppets in controlling society to cater to the best interests.
The British invested heavily in their new colonies, seeing the value of their resources. While their rule in Malaysia was highly beneficial to them on many platforms, the British were not simply exploiting their colony so much as developing it and opening it to the outside world. Their rule was for the most part peaceful, with the exception of several rebel revolts from both internal and external forces. From a Malay perspective, when considered in context with it's previous state, it too was beneficial, economically and politically; encouraging both nationalism and a relative political freedom.
Japanese Invasion.
The Japanese invasion of Malaysia was a relatively rapid invasion that faced passionate but hopeless resistance. The British were primarily concerned with themselves rather than their colonies and to them on a large scale; Malaysia was of little significance. Consequently, the Malays were left mainly to defend themselves from the Japanese. Against well-trained and developed Japanese armies, the Malays stood little chance, adopting guerilla warfare methods to do the best they could. Shortly after the invasion, the country was captured and overrun by the Japanese, although the Malay guerilla forces never ceased to fight for their country all throughout the occupation.
Japanese Occupation.
Japanese occupation of Malaysia was extremely brief, lasting only till the end of the war. In the 4 years of which Japan ruled over Malaysia, the Japanese helped the cause of Malay nationalism. They chose largely to appoint Malay officials, rather than others of the region, particularly the population of Chinese descent, of whom the Japanese regarded somewhat as an enemy, and treated far worse than any other people.
Within Malaysia, the Japanese operated the country much in much the same way as the British but with a far greater and more obvious influence in the government. The country served largely as a generator of wealth for the Japanese as they chose to show little concern in the state of their colonies other than ensuring they were stable and controlled colonies of the empire and they were bringing in required resources, man power and geographic dominance to Japan.
Liberation From Japanese Rule.
At the conclusion to World War II, following the Japanese surrendering to the allied forces, some of the reparations included returning Malaysia to the British. The British resumed their role, heading the state and its people and benefiting from its resources. Britain's attempts to further political modernization within Malaysia ended badly. When the British resumed control after the war, it was the conservative Malays, rather than the extremist nationalistic revolutionaries; that gained support from the British and national community. They acknowledged the need for British affiliation and protection at the time and realized that were they to break away to soon they would relatively defenseless against both internal and external forces.
In 1946 the British advocated equal rights for non-Malays within Malaysia to balance out the power domination of the country, whose population the consisted of around 54% Malay (Muslim), 28% Chinese (Buddhist & Confusion) and 16% Indian (Hindu).
The various divisions within the racial, national and religious background of the people of Malaysia created constant tension and rivalry. The Malays had always held the balance of power and the British equality bill was an act that would challenge that. The Malays saw this as greatly insulting and consequently the UMNO (United Malaysian National Organization) was formed and through British negotiation, were successful in gaining preference for Malays.
It was not until 1957 that Malaysia gained its independence. After a long period of continual guerilla attacks from the Malayan Communist Party, directed at tin mines and rubber plantations, in an effort to drive out the British, the British finally granted the country its independence, as it was becoming more of a burden than an asset.
Impact Of Japanese Imperialism.
The true impact of imperialism on Malaysia cannot be solely accredited to Japan or any other single country. As a result of the many different empires that possessed Malaysia, most notably the Japanese and British, the country went through a drastic period of reformation and modernization. In a matter of decades the country had turned from a very closed of traditional eastern society, to a thriving modern state rich in resources and powerful in trade.
The Malays still dominated society despite the mixed culture, appointing themselves a king and prime minister acting as a democratic monarchy. The national language was established as Malay and the country became fanatically Islamic.
The Imperialism in general did both good and bad for the people of Malaysia. It encouraged them to abandon their tradition and heritage to a certain degree in favor of modernization. A great deal of their resources were consumed for the good of their Empires and so was removed from their country, but at the same time, Malaysia was opened to the world on a trading level that had never before been realized.
The cultural diversity introduced to Malaysian society had both positive and negative affects. The country was now more balanced and culturally diverse but constant conflict and unnecessary violence was introduced into society. The cultural diversity did assist in encouraging nationalism, which lead to the eventual development of independence, but the nationalism also created a highly right wing fanatical society.
The influences of the various empires over the history of Malaysia have both contributed and detracted from Malaysian society as a whole in various direct and indirect ways and it is these outside influences that have shaped Malaysia's current twisted state.
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